Prateek Tanmay
Discussions about productivity, work-life balance, and time management often gain traction when people compare experiences across countries. While every workplace culture has its own strengths and challenges, differences in working hours, daily routines, and attitudes towards time can shape how people approach their careers, personal lives, and overall well-being.
Recently, an Indian man living in the United States, Ravi R. Kumar, sparked an online conversation after sharing his observations about the differences between work culture in the US and India. Reflecting on his experience, he wrote in Hindi, “यहाँ 🕡 06:30 AM बजे ऑफिस शुरू हो जाता है और 🕒 03:00 PM तक लोग आधा दिन जीत भी लेते हैं 😄 (Here, offices start at 6:30 AM and by 3:00 PM people have already won half the day).”
Comparing this with habits he associated with India, he added, “और भारत 🇮🇳 में इस समय तक… एक हाथ में चाय ☕, दूसरे में मोबाइल 📱 और ‘100 बड़ी ख़बरें’ देखकर ही दिमाग़ Stock Market से ज़्यादा ऊपर-नीचे हो जाता था 😂 (And in India, by this time… one hand is holding tea, the other a mobile phone, and after watching ‘100 big news stories’, the mind fluctuates more than the stock market).”
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.
At the same time, Ravi acknowledged positive lessons from both cultures. He wrote, “लेकिन मानना पड़ेगा… भारत ने हमें Emotion सिखाया ❤️ और अमेरिका 🇺🇸 Time Management ⏰” (But one has to admit… India taught us emotion, and America taught us time management).”
He further joked, “अब हालत ये है कि यहाँ लोग सुबह काम शुरू करते हैं… और हम भारतीय पहले ये देखते हैं कि ‘आज कौन किसको Troll कर रहा है’ 😭😂” (“Now the situation is that people here start working in the morning, while we Indians first check who is trolling whom today.”) Concluding on a balanced note, he added, “खैर… जहाँ रहो वहाँ सीखो, आगे बढ़ो और दोनों देशों का सम्मान करो 🙌 भारत माता की जय 🇮🇳 और अमेरिका माता की भी जय 🇺🇸.” (Wherever you live, learn from that place, move forward, and respect both countries. Victory to Mother India and also to Mother America).”
To understand the impact of such work cultures, we spoke with an expert.
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Does starting the workday earlier necessarily make people more productive?
Gurleen Baruah, Organisational Psychologist and Executive Coach at That Culture Thing, tells indianexpress.com, “Not necessarily. An early start does not automatically mean better productivity. It depends on the nature of the work, organisational culture, team culture, and individual working styles. Especially in white-collar, knowledge-based work, productivity is often less about the number of hours and more about the quality of attention and thinking.”
She adds that it is not like spending more time automatically creates more output. Rather than viewing it as a binary of “early is better” or “late is better,” the more important factors are focus, concentration, clarity about what needs to be done, and the ability to do meaningful work without constant interruptions. Productivity is ultimately more about how one works than when one starts.
How cultural values shape the way people view work
“Absolutely, there can be benefits to both approaches,” reveals Baruah, adding that in today’s global workplaces, people from different cultures work together, and there is a lot to learn from one another.
“Broadly speaking, American culture is often viewed as more individualistic, while Indian culture is often seen as more collectivist. Similarly, American work culture is often associated with punctuality, structure, and efficiency, whereas Indian culture tends to place greater emphasis on relationships, emotional connection, and community. Of course, these are broad observations and not rigid truths. The benefit lies in cultural exchange. Diverse teams can learn from different ways of thinking, working, relating, and solving problems, which often makes them both stronger and more productive,” shares the expert.
Impact of checking news, social media, messages, or online debates
It is not so black and white that checking news or social media in the morning will automatically lead to poor concentration, or that avoiding it guarantees productivity. However, Baruah notes that if the first thing someone does after waking up is consume a flood of news, social media, messages, or online debates, especially negative content, a lot of that fresh mental space can get occupied very quickly.
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“After sleep, the mind is relatively rested and reset. What we consume in those early moments can influence our attention, emotions, and mental energy for the rest of the day. If repeated over time, constantly beginning the day with external stimulation can make it harder to focus, prioritise, and sustain attention on what truly matters,” concludes Baruah.
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.
